Thursday, 8 December 2011

Make Your Own Christmas Crackers

This is a family tradition of ours. The kids try to save every empty toilet roll they can get their hands on for the last month or so.

So you'll need:

Empty toilet rolls or paper towel rolls cut in half
Coloured tissue paper or crepe paper, or childrens pictures on thinish paper
Pictures from old broken books or encyclopaedias or music sheets or magazines for outside embellishment
Coloured string, ribbon, bias binding, lace or thin strips of fabric to tie the ends
Cellotape and a gluestick
Treats
Wrapped chocolates

You can put what you like inside the roll. A homemade hat, small treats etc. We include in each cracker, a hand written joke, a prewrapped chocolate and a sticker. Last year they included a horoscope too. My kids set up a production line. Ben chooses from his collection of joke books the jokes he wants to put in. Ella writes them out, Ben cuts them up and they both put them in the crackers. Laura just decided to make a couple of her own in their entirety. There's a fair bit of smelling chocolates that goes on and choosing favourites and trying to remember which cracker their favourite chocolate went into. This is a great teamwork exercise.
When you've filled the cardboard tube with your chosen treats, place on a piece of tissue paper, making sure there is enough paper to create the flouncy bit at the ends of each roll (about 5-7cm extra). Roll paper around and overlap edges and tape. Next glue on your picture using the gluestick. Tie the ends with a bow. And you're finished. They look great on the Christmas table and hanging from the tree. Really nice to include in a gift bag or basket too.

Louie loves them so much he's already ripped one to bits. Probably the chocolate!

They're gorgeous and I love to hear about traditions like this. I have a four month old bub and can't wait to figure out and/or see what our christmas traditions will be. For now I'll make her a gingerbread house and when she is older I will give your Christmas crackers a go. Happy crafting!

Love children getting involved with so much of the project! Love the vintage look! We have always had the tradition of making our own bon bons too. I have a big bag of toilet rolls next to our toilet at the moment. I'm sure visitors wonder....

Martta I don't think its ever too early to start your own xmas traditions. It really does make xmas extra special when its made by hand rather than some retail version of it. The gingerbread house sounds delicious.

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About Me

Hi Welcome to our family blogs. We are a family of 5 plus a gorgeous dog (Louie). We love to craft, garden organically, write, keep bees and live as a freeranging homeschool family. We live in Christchurch New Zealand.
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